Jake Oettinger blocked 36 shots and forced the Dallas Stars to end the game when they beat the Calgary Flames 4-2 on Friday night.
Oettinger again delivered a top performance for the Stars and kept it strong in the third period. He has not allowed more than three goals in six games since the start of this series.
The Stars tied the game at 3-3 and Game 7 was Sunday night in Calgary.
Roope Hintz and Michael Raffl both had goals and assists for Dallas. Miro Heiskanen and Tyler Seguin, on an empty net, completed the scoring.
Michael Stone had a goal and an assist for his first two points of the series. Mikael Backlund was the only Flames player to beat Oettinger.
Jacob Markstrom also made some important saves, but this time he lost his duel against his vis-à-vis. The Swede also saved 36 pucks.
The Flames entered the first stage with a knife between their teeth and the Stars weathered the storm until they opened the scoring.
Defender Oliver Kylington attempted clearance, but broke his stick. The Stars counterattack began and Joe Pavelski left the puck for Hintz, who avoided Markstrom’s guard between the pads. The Flames goalie seems to lack focus on the streak.
Kylington is once again at the heart of the action, but this time in the second episode. He lost his one-on-one battle in the middle of Flames territory and Joel Kiviranta made two shots at Markstrom. Raffl, in the second wave, who finally hit the mark.
The Flames, however, rolled up their sleeves and scored two goals in less than four minutes.
On a three-on-one climb, Johnny Gaudreau persevered and waited until the last moment before handing the disc to Stone, who closed the gap.
Stone then got an assist when he set up Backlund’s goal, beating Oettinger on a one-timer from the right circle.
The Stars regained the lead before the end of the second period. Radek Faksa passed the puck to Heiskanen at the fulcrum. The Finnish defender applied the brakes to lower Matthew Tkachuk and fired a wrist shot that Markstrom did not stop.
Seventh game
The Flames ’Game 7 record is six wins and four losses.
Their last victory began in 2004, when Calgary beat Vancouver in overtime. The Flames continued their journey toward the final, where they lost seven games to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Stars (including North Stars) pushed Game 7 after following a series eight times, winning three of those series.
Source: Radio-Canada
